Interesting Facts About Bees

Pollination

Agriculture depends greatly on the honeybee for pollination. Honey Bees account for 80% of all insect pollination.Without such pollination, we would see a significant decrease in the yield of fruit and vegetables.

Pollen

Bees collect about 66 pounds of pollen per hive, per year. Pollen is the male germ cells produced by all flowering plants For fertilization and plant embryo formation. The Honeybee uses pollen as food. Pollen is one of the richest and purest Natural foods, consisting of up to 35% protein, 10% sugars, carbohydrates, enzymes, minerals, and vitamins A (carotenes)B1 (thiamin) B2 (riboflavin),B3 (nicotinic acid), B5 (panothenic acid), C (ascorbic acid),H (biotin), and(rutine).

Honey

Honey is used by bees for food all year round. There are many types, colours and flavours of honey, depending upon it'snectar sources. The bees make honey from the nectar they collect from flowering trees and plants. Honey is an easily digestible,pure food. Honey is hydroscopic and has antibacterial qualities. Eating honey can fend off allergies.

Beeswax

Secreted from glands, beeswax is used by honeybees to build honey comb. It is used by people in drugs,cosmetics, artistsmaterials, furniture polish and candles.

Propolis

Collected by honey bees from trees, the sticky resin is mixed with wax to make a sticky glue. The bees use this to sealcracks and repair their hive. It is used by people as a health aid, and as the basis for fine wood varnishes.

Royal Jelly

The powerful, milky substance that turns an ordinary bee into a Queen Bee. It is made of digested pollen and honey or nectar mixed with a chemical secreted from a gland in a nursing bee's head. It commands premium prices rivaling imported cavier,and is used by some as a dietary supplement and fertility stimulant. It is loaded with all of the B vitamins.

Bee Venom

The "ouch" part of the honeybee. Although sharp pain and some swelling and itching are natural reactions to a honeybee sting to most, a small percentage of individuals are highly allregic to bee venom. "Bee venom therapy" is widely practiced overseas and by some in canada to address health problems such as arthritis, neuralgia, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and even MS.

Honey Bee Castes

Queen Bee

There is only one queen bee per hive (although sometimes a daughter queen will lay eggs with her mother) The queen is the only bee with fully developed ovaries. A queen bee can live for 3-5 years. The queen mates only oncewith male (drone) bees, and will remain fertile for life. She lays up to 2000 eggs per day. Fertilized eggs become female(worker bees) and unfertilized eggs become males (drones). When she dies or becomes unproductive, the otherbees will"make" a new queen by selecting a young larva and feeding it a diet of "Royal Jelly". For queen bees it takes 16 days from egg to emergence.

Worker Bee

All worker bees are female, but they are not able to reproduce. Worker bees live for 4-9 months (they literally work themselves to death). Nearly all of the bees in a hive are worker bees. A hive consists of 20,000-30,000 bees in the winter, and over 60,000-80,000 bees in the summer. The worker bees sequentially take on a series of chores during their life time:housekeeper; nursemaid; construction worker; grocer; undertaker; guard; and finally, after 21 days they become a foragercollecting pollen and nectar. For worker bees, it takes 21 days from egg to emergence. The worker bee has a barbed stingerthat results in her death following stinging, therefore she can only sting once.

Drone Bees

These male bees are kept on standby during the summer for mating with virgin queens. Because the drone barbed sexorgan,mating is followed by death of the drone. There are only 300--3000 drones in a hive. The drone does not havea stinger. Because they are of no use in the winter, drones are expelled from the hive in autumn.